Defoe, Zabaleta, who else?

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Reports are treating it as a given that we will sign Defoe (34) and Zabaleta (32). Of course both players have proven quality and both still seem good for at least one season. With Defoe on an escape clause and Zabaleta on a free, we can afford, short-term, the massive wage deals required for their services. One would hope that they would be a good influence at the club and not just to be put out to pasture. I could see Zabaleta possibly being a solution to the right back crisis, and if Byram were ever to develop the quality he was supposed to have (which I doubt, sadly), Zabaleta wouldn't be to bad a player to provide. Amazingly, Defoe still has more pace and guile in him than anyone we had up front this season. So, relatively speaking this is not a bad start. We can hope, too, that at least one or two of the loaned out players gets a chance to break into the team next season. So where would you put your money if you had it to spend? And more importantly, who would you spend on?

Neither of these players are of the vision we were promised! I'd say if we are getting this type of player in past their sell by date, we have already by passed the boards vision. At there age this isn't the kind of player we need. Both are at best temporary solutions with at most 1 year in them. So why are we buying players with such a short life span? Include fonte and the ginger pele that would be 4 stop gaps that MIGHT have enough in them to help us next season. Whatever happened to the boards policy that they are looking for 27 as the top age. If these players come then the board have sold us a dud! Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

regardless of what we were promised it is clear these are both improvements on what we have. you must be able to understand we cant jump from where we are now straight to the vision we were sold and if you cant then I'm amazed. its a gradual process like at man city when they brought in wayne bridge, bellamy and the likes- not world beaters but a progression - its a gradual process not an instant one

We were sold this vision when the board first arrived, so it's hardly over night! when man city bought in bridge and bellemy they had years left in them at the top division! As for improvements, yes they probably are an improvement on what we have but only because those 2 positions have been constantly overlooked under funded wise. Zabaleta and Defoe should improve the teams that are coming up but for us it's yet another overlooking and underfunding of what is needed! This time next season we will be walking down that same road with Defoe, zabaleta and fonte! There is no future or vision on either signing for us in the summer and shouts desperation once again. They won't spend the money to strengthen these positions first go but don't mind redoing them and spun king more wasted money every 12 months! That's false economy at best! We don't need anymore fillers as we are no longer in Europe this season. Any money we spend should only be on players that are the real deal with at least 3 years at their prime left in them. Like I said in another post until the club is run like a big club it won't matter who we buy, and won't ever become a top club. Buying these will confirm we are small time. If Defoe players regular for us then it's not progression at his age.

That WAS something the board said they was to be general policy. I appreciate that they might say, 'That was then, this is now', but we're entitled to ask what happened to the progression of the dream. Surely it shouldn't just take a dive due to Payet.

the quote you were looking for is "We said we wanted an exciting and balanced squad, with new signings that shared our ambitions and could play in the ‘West Ham Way" Never said anything about not signing players over the age of 27. This was also after a good summer of business. People are way to harsh on the board. Why is one bad summer (not just there fault) overlooking the fact the previous 2 summers were excellent. You can't get everything right all the time. Also this notion about trying to do everything on the cheap is absolutely absurd. Look at our expenditure over the past few seasons. Also this notion that a player must be poor if hes available on a free is also ridiculous.

we were sold this vision but did they not have issues to contend like clearing the massive debt 1st. then also getting out of the championship(admittedly we slipped into it during their reign). - for me since coming out of the championship the progress made has been pleasing. rewind to Wembley and the squad we had that day vs now and I know what id prefer. rewind not even 12 mths ago when we had one of the most coveted players in world football on our books. - last season we were top 8 without a recognised CF. this season we are a few pts off that finish again without a recognised CF so for me if we can add 15 goals to that in the shape of a 34 yr old that is progress regardless of age as a prolific CF is something we've been missing - allardyce offered stability which is great, bilic may not be the guy to take us the full way forward but he's certainly brought us on. - I for one was excited to sign zaza, feghouli, tore and nordveit as I watch European football and have seen a bit of them and thought they could add to our squad but it's only hindsight that make this summers business bad. there is nothing wrong with going with tried and tested as a short term fix until you get to the level where you can attact the next level of players because even with a top 8 finish we couldn't get the lacazettes of this world so what are we realistically expecting this summer - doesn't leave much does it

i agree tried and trusted is good, better than gambling on feghouli and zaza's. however, it has to compliment the basic, core signings. we need young, solid signings or quality. don't forget we already signed fonte, and snodgrass. i can't for a moment believe that 'we can't attract them' due to being out of champs league places and 'in debt'. lets not forget this is a prem league club, the income from this is MASSIVE. so for those that say, its not possible to get better players well last summer the likes of Benteke, Townsend, Carroll, Livermore, Niasse, Llorente, Gabbiadini, Negredo, Allen…all went to clubs below us or around us…all of those its safe to say have made better impressions than the likes of Nordveit, feghouli, calleri, tore, zaza

Agree RNI ,these players are in the twilight of their playing days ,2 years top,the probabilitiy of injuries and long lay offs are raised , so it is a gamble.Having said both players have a lot to offer and would certainly improve the starting line up.I would have no problem with them joining if there was more quality to follow in those positions.The squad doesn't just need better quality in the starting lineup but also in the squad as a whole,too many mediocre players.I cannot see Carrol staying,too injury prone,nor Calleri,a trier but not a natural goal scorer,for that matter neither does Ayew tick all the boxes,there is quality there,but no way natural goal scorerwhich the club is crying out for ,and certainly not worth £20m. If Westham signed two top strikers along with Defoe,no fan would raise objections,but I question the boards intentions. I dont think our board have the intent to push us on quickly,which you can only do with big spending, they just haven't got the financial clout.Why hang on to the reins of power if you cannot push the club forward,they are holding the club back from progressing,purely for selfish motive.Buying one marquee signing a season,as Sullivan intended when he took over, isn't going to make much of an impression. If the team had finished similar or bettered last seasons performances then the pulling power would have been stronger,but what top striker would want to come to a club after this season's showing. Alot hung on this season,but we blew it,gone backwards.I blame both the board and Bilic.If the board surprise us this summer and make available £100m for transfers ,that would be a statement of intent,that would quieten the dissenting voices,but it isn't going to happen,but ,and its a big but,if they did, is Bilic the man to be trusted to spend it wisely? I feel if a manager had that much spending power I would want someone in charge who had the pulling power to attract the top players ,a manager with pedigree like Mancini or Bielsa.The way Southampton targeted Pochettino from obscurity ,a relative unknown at Espanyol,showed they had done their homework ,a quality manager ,like Koeman is proving accomplished in the teams he manages in the premiership.

I agree with you 100% but did we know at the time of signing them that the guys we signed were going to flop so badly and some of the guys you mention have as big an impact as they did- I didn't . as I said it's only hindsight which makes our business rubbish but you cant deny if we sign a striker who will get 15 goals at this level regardless of who he is and how old he is that is good business coming from where we are at the moment. and I would also hope that if we get JD & Zabaleta we compliment it with young exciting players from the championship like we did with Antonio and Cresswell and hopefully involve a few more youngsters from our own academy

Kc, certainly some of our signings are flops but I think some would definately be better under a better manager, did you just suggest Defoe would get us 15 goals if he joined us? Interesting mmm. Defoe of old maybe. Noble or Lanzini will take pens next season so at most I'd go for 7 or possibly 8. Some people are really clutching at straws how good Defoe currently is.

i agree too. but i still say that its someone's job to make sure we don't sign up a host of duds. you and i could get away with it as we don't do it for a living. but someone at the club signed a barrage of duds this time around. shouldn't happen imo. one or two gambles sure…but when you have a good season like we did and then move to a new stadium and have owners saying tickets sold out etc…we are going to be top club etc….big name players are coming in….then the fact that we sign what we did is someone's fault and someone's failing imo.

yes i agree. they would be good additions as they improve what we have especially up front which by all account is very little. if they can bring in 3-4 really good, solid but younger players to fit into the system Bilic wants to play then bob's your uncle. just i can't see it. its prob gonna be the usual grab whatever we can cheap last minute stuff. more thought is needed into who we sign and why. i thought we had paid staff for this very reason. don't get me wrong, I'm not arguing with you KC, just looking at it overall.

yes but no one rates them it seems. not those who choose whether or no they play anyway. personally i think they should be playing instead of nordveit, calleri, etc. can't be any worse. altho nordface has improved. ideally i meant 3-4 established 20-25 year old players.

they seem to be very good although I cant see them all getting a chance at the same time - Id like to think at least oxford will now after having a bit of time in the championship, the others including Cullen haven't done it above league 1 but I would love them all to get a chance to show their worth. saying that I can see why they weren't given a chance this season when it was all going wrong as it wasn't the best environment (poss relegation scrap) to bring in youngsters but hopefully they get a chance in pre-season/early weeks

of course they are going to say they've been offered more money elsewhere - this is what agents do but for 1 or 2 seasons while we find our level and tweak the squad it cant hurt to have these two on board as we know what were getting

Kc, obviously it all opinion but I stick to what I say about Defoe not getting 15 next season. I suppose only time will tell. He obviously isn't our marquee players and I doubt he will be the big striker signing which unless bilic plays 2 upfront then he's a squad signing. If so why are we buying squad players again! Have we learnt nothing? I except this as a good signing on if we ditch calleri, Valencia and at least one of sakho or Carroll and loan out fletcher and Martinez.

why are we buying squad players??????!!!????
obviously needed to back up injuries and suspensions and loss of form. at more than one point of the season we had a player out of position playing up top - this is exactly why we need a squad - Valencia is as good as gone- sakho shouldn't play for us again, id expect calleri to go and one of fletch or Martinez to be loaned to a championship club. at no point did I say he should be our main man but even as a 2nd option he's already better than what we have on the books currently

Surely if we buy players to be in our first 11 the players they replace become squad players! That way technically we just get better! The man city guy is probably what we need to buy. If we get batsuyi as well i'd get shot of every striker we have bar Martinez and maybe we can have Defoe. I'd like to see at least 2 youngsters on our bench every game. Oxford hasn't played a lot at reading, so he has wasted a year, Burke injury could be ditto. The Everton boy may get a chance Holland? Cullen should get a few chances from the bench. There is plenty o kids we can feature from the bench at times. I'm sure they can do just as well as the deadbeats bought and could easily use them as squad players of a lesser ilk

agreed totally - but at the moment defoe would be our best striker -him along with iheanacho on a perm deal and batschauyi on loan would be a good addition to carroll and would represent different options - I too would like to see 2 or 3 kids on the bench and hopefully we will be at the right end of the table so can afford to blood the kids - I would like to see Martinez Cullen and Quina particularly

when chelski beat Watford on Monday and had a few fringe players in the side a certain loftus cheek was not even on the bench couple of chelski supporters at work say he is not injured and found it strange that he was notgiven a run out as they really rate him...well if they don't want him he would be a good addition to our team

Get in Iheanacho and/or Batshuayi (one permanent one loan sounded good), get shot of other stikers, have Defoe and Carroll as squad players; Zabaleta may still solve our RB problem for a season (don't know how slow he is now, though), and we should definitely be bringing some of the kids to the bench most weeks and giving them opportunity WHENEVER POSSIBLE. These are good suggestions, and if not these people, at least the right general idea. I'd also try to add another playmaking midfielder to complement Lanzini. We could be good!!! Big questions are: would these people (Iheanacho/Batshuayi) really come? Batty I don't think wants to be a Hammer! Would Defoe settle for being a super-sub? I don't think so. I think he'd sulk. Carroll could of course have nothing to say -- he plays when he's healthy and not otherwise (which is most of the time). But even Andy wants to be starting when he's fit, and he's not always suited to the right strategy against a particular team. Some teams know how to absorb the pressure he creates. So, it will take: (1) Fair investment, (2) Strong Management, and (3) Reasonable inducements to fill out the squad and bring in good (not great) new starting players. But it can be done! COYI

I think batschuayi would come on loan as he would still be able to go back to Chelsea if he was successful - I think a loan for him would be best as he is still unproven in this league although he has had a good few wks. Iheanacho would be my number 1 target as he looks as though hes already found his feet in the prem. defoe shouldn't really expect to be the main guy wherever he goes at his age he must know his games will be limited and as for AC well he should be happy with what he gets but saying that having 4 top class strikers(when fit) competing for places with no one guaranteed a place is healthy - totally in agreement re support for lanzini, I was hoping snograss/ayew would provide this but one can hope. who would come into the conversation then as I haven't seen us linked with anyone In that position although ajax have a few gems who probably wouldn't cost a lot

we should make an enquiry as to his availability as rumoured chelski want to offload and not loan but his couple of goals against wba and Watford may make conti rethink...so contact them find out if he is going to be sold or loaned find out from agent if he would consider a move to us if not then move on and stop chasing someone who is not interested...sounds simple and I would think it is but we need to be swift in our dealings this summer instead of hanging around then paying way over the odds for players.

NEWSFLASH people we just finished 11th, Defoe is better than our current striker and Zabaletta is better than Byram even if he was 44. Get a grip people inside this West Ham bubble of a forum we get a bit carried away by who we can pull in. Hold your powder dry and see what happens. Last seasons were disappointing, but only in hindsight, the seasons before were successful but again only in hindsight. If we don't get players in that can make a difference of course we'll be struggling. but who of us real really knows and can predict whether that player will succeed or fail? I'm sure all Chelsea fans thought god had answered their prayers when the Liverpool goals machine was bought for £50 million

personally i said all along the 'sack bilic' etc was way too soon. we had some poor games this season but its the prem and thats the way it is. considering the investment into the team 11th is a good return. even staying up would be a good return in my view considering the team. we are all waiting to see what signings are made betty, but in the meantime we all discuss what we believe will happen based on what has just happened. i know you are a staunch backer of the board and thats fine but some of us just don't buy this 'we can't attract any players' anymore. football is all about money and club status. right now we are in the prem and considered a 'mid table' side with ambitions to push upwards. that means we should be attracting some decent players from overseas and also be an extremely attractive prospect for top champs players. you speak about torres at chelsea, yes he was a failure overall for the money but you forget that for torres there were 10 other players that were successful at chelsea. we can't predict if a player will fail or not i agree but you have to get it right more than you get it wrong surely. by going out and casting a net over the freebies and cheapies in europe you are going to get a pile of duds. so why do it? why not get someone with some know how to track and scout players who will fit in and play well? and who are realistic targets? you can't tell me they aren't out there…the football market is gigantic. you don't have to say 'lacazette…etc' it doesnt have to be the cream of the available players…but players who come to us and perform. my point is that its someones job to do that, or at least it should be and not down to two old geezers to decide who they think will be a good punt. if the owners are the ones making the decisions on players then its a worry.

lol "stauch backer". I suppose Im more of a realist. Theres a lot of fantasy football stuff on here. Until one of us has a spare Billion in our pockets these guys are the owners and we are at their behest. Money talks bullshit walks. We can call them al the names under the sun, it's their name above the door that matters. If we don't like it I suggest a SUGO out petition, but as most on here have boycotted going to the new ground, that's unlikely to happen. We keep going round in circles but the reality is 11th is good, when your star player shags another bird, gets her pregnant thane gets told he has to go home. Payed was massive for us bigger I'd say than Hazard for Chelsea, and look what happened to them when he sulked all last year. The signings we will get are the Darren Fletchers, Snodgrasses of this world all average in my book. You could throw £100's millions at a player but if we are doing it someone else will, and I'll guarantee you they'll be a better prospect than us. We are where we are, lets not write players off before they've kicked a ball. We also have to et out of this mindset that young is goos old is bad. Byram and Fletcher for instance get loads of time and excuses because of age. We have to plan for next year and next year only. That's as far as we can look at the moment IMO